Profits soar at China's Baidu.com

China's leading search engine company Baidu has reported a sharp
increase in profits but warned revenue would be hit by moving to a
new advertising system. The warning sent the firm's shares more than
10 % lower in after-hours trading in New York. Net income between July
and September came in at 492.9 m yuan ($72.2 m; £44.1 m), up almost
40 % on the 350 m yuan recorded in the same period last year. Baidu
has more than 60 % of the China's search engine market. It plans to
phase out its current advertising system and replace it with a new
Phoenix Nest system later this year. "We feel that in the first
quarter there will be a material impact from the switch," the company
said. But analysts said the new system would benefit the firm in the
long run. "It is just short-term pain, the long term fundamentals of
the company are still strong," said Dick Wei at JP Morgan.